As I was taking my walk in the park this Wednesday morning my thoughts turned to the future of the Magoffin County Historical Society.
I well remember our early years when then newspaper editor Tim Bostic warned us that such organizations as we were attempting to begin didn't last an average of eight years or so. We've beat that by twenty years and almost daily have people come through our doors from all over the US and even other countries who are somewhat amazed at our collection of research material and leave thinking we “hung the moon”. But…after looking at some of the older members, meaning me, they ask what's in the future for MCHS.
So, let's take a look back in time. Our first venture was simply to copy Magoffin County cemeteries for the Kentucky Historical Society; a project started by Connie A. Wireman who enlisted the aid of Stanley Gardner and me. We were soon joined by Earl Bailey, Johnnie and Eulah Back and several more. When folks found out about this venture they began to write to us with their family history questions and so the Magoffin County Historical Society began to find its path.
A lady from Oklahoma came to Salyersville in the midst of all this by the name of Yvona Mason, the granddaughter of William “Uncle Billy” Adams . She became acquainted with a cousin, Phyllis Williams Salyer who brought her to one of our first meetings. She encouraged us to somehow honor Uncle Billy, town founder of Adamsville, an earlier name for the town of Salyersville. A former Independent editor, Albert K. Moore, had long wanted to see some recognition of this man who built a town and, indeed, was instrumental in having the county of Magoffin formed. In order to finance the memorial project a booklet on the Adams family was printed and with the success of that first Magoffin County Founder's Days a new tradition was born that has seen consecutive successes up to 2006.
We've been able to prosper as a historical society, that is to say, we own property, we have log homes that have been brought in and erected, we have our own archives building and we continue to collect information and present it in printed form as the sale of these books enable us to keep this facility and program going.
So far, so good, but that question of what the future holds still haunts some of us who are in our senior years.
In yesteryear, we had to take our material to the vocational school at night to print then box it up and bring it back to the library building to lay out on tables and collate the printed pages into book form. We usually had plenty of volunteers to go around the tables and those were undoubtedly some of our best days as everyone sort of became “family”.
Later we obtained our own facility and were able to buy our own machines that were capable of collating the pages thus we probably lost a lot of that camaraderie we enjoyed earlier. A lot of our people have also passed away and, seemingly, folks are too busy these days to contribute much of their free time.
Yes, we've had enough help when Founder's Days roll around but the pre-founder's days sort of gives this senior citizen a few more gray hairs worrying if we are going to be able to “pull it all off”. Preparations for Founder's Days continues to be our largest responsibility and last Sunday when we were to have a planning session and only four people showed up, it was pretty scary. Even if you can't help with the physical aspects connected with Founder's Days events, please remember that your encouragement and presence is very important to those who do the actual labor.
I've probably bored some of you these last few months pleading for help during our 28th Annual Magoffin County Founder's Days honoring some of Magoffin's greatest heroes of our time, namely the veterans who gave of their lives for OUR freedom. There are those who did not make it back and there were those who came back in wheelchairs or worse yet, in hospital beds, those that came back with scarred minds, due to the atrocities they went through for OUR freedom.
If you should want to learn more about what the horrors our heroes went through, I recommend you pick up or order Volume One of the Military News Excerpts from the Salyersville Independent from 1939 through 1944. If you are at a certain age, you lived through it, or if you are younger then you parents or grandparents went though it. A Volume Two is being prepared that will take up where Volume One ends. These are not the Founder's Days military books but supplement the material that will appear in those tributes to our military men and women.
Now, by the time you read this, Founder's Days will be a week away but it won't be too late for you to come in and let us show you what you can do to make this one of the greatest Founder's Days to date. This tribute to Magoffin's military should have happened years and years ago but it is better than not materializing at all.
Those people who volunteered their efforts to have one of the most beautiful monuments erected in Ramey Park in Salyersville honoring our veterans are worthy of all the thanks that can be bestowed on them.
The Founder's Day Military book we are preparing will add information to those names and record for the future the history leading up to the wars. They will record the adventures and atrocities that happened in all parts of the world to our soldiers. It will record what our military personnel suffered through to prevent actual battles being fought on our American soil as well as listing those who gave their all, those who were wounded, those who were prisoners of war, etc.
Help us salute all our veterans of all wars!
We have taken a bit of time to try to answer some of the queries that have come in. Betty Hamm (ebhamm @bellsouth.net) would like to know the parents of James H. Adams. He was born in 1856 KY and married in 1881 Magoffin Co. KY to Jane Quillen, the dau of Solomon Quillen and Lydia or Lillie Anderson. Jane died 21 Mar 1940 Wayne Co. WV.
In our marriages we have that James H. Adams married 30 Aug 1881 to Jane Quillen at the home of A. J. Patton. We haven't found a second marriage for him in Magoffin County. If anyone has knowledge of this James H. Adams, let us or Betty know.
LaFern Hamlin Melton (meltine @bright.net) writes she is still searching for Sim Hamblin/Hamlin who married 8 Nov 1906 to Polly Whitaker at the home of Elliot Dotson. She has heard that Sim may have died in WWI or in the flu epidemic of 1918. This is another query we will turn over to our readers. Sim had a brother Ervin b. 1875 who married 4 Jul 1902 to Dora Stone. This family is found in the 1910 Floyd Co. KY census. Another brother, Jack Hamblin married 28 Oct 1904 to Manda Risner at the home of E. Risner. Any help appreciated.
Dawn Thistle (websterbluff @verizon.net) is looking for info on Benjamin Reed and wife Agnes. Their dau was Bessie Reed b. 1893. Bessie was the dau of Benjamin Reed b. 1869 and a gr/dau of John Reed b. ca. 1842. John was a son of Daniel Reed b. 1806 and Martha “Patsy” Lewis b. 1808 VA.
John Reed married in 1860 to Nancy Prater b. ca. 1846, parent's unknown.
Benjamin Reed married in 1898 to Aggie Minix (Dunn). Aggie first married A. T. Dunn. She was the dau of James “Little Jim” Minix b. 1846. Little Jim was a son of Charles Minix, Jr. and Margaret Patrick.
James married in 1869 to Catherine Montgomery b. 1853, dau of Silas Montgomery b. 1822. Silas was a son of John Montgomery Jr. and Sarah Flannery.
Silas married Aggie Sizemore b. 1823, dau of George “Goldenhawk” Sizemore and Sallie Anderson.
These are a lot of interesting family puzzles and we ask for your help. Write to us at Box 222, Salyersville, KY 41465 (email
[email protected]
), telephone 606-349-1607 or drop in to visit at 191 South Church Street in Salyersville.
Magoffin County Historical
Society
This
article, written by Todd Preston, the president of the
Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the
August 17, 2006
issue of